Last night I went to Al Hamraa at the IX building for dinner for the first time. It’s owned by Karim Sellam, same ownership as Al Dente. When you step into the restaurant and get the whole experience you don’t feel like you’re in Charlottesville, and I had a great time. It was a friend’s birthday so there were 8 of us at dinner. We were the only table in the restaurant at 8 pm. We ordered pretty much everything on the menu, I’ll highlight my favorites and let you know what not to order.
Let’s start with drinks. I got a Black Widow(fresh blackberries and Jack Daniels) there were actually fresh berries at the bottom of the drink, yum. I would also recommend the cinnamon martini(vodka, sweet vermouth, cinnamon syrup, orange liquor) it was a favorite at my table. The boys just drank Tiger beer…boring. Sangria is also an option, I feel like I missed out by not trying it.
After we ordered our food the waiter came over to wash our hands. He poured warm water on our hands, you rub them together for a second and then wipe them off on your napkin(wash cloth). It made my hands smell good like tea, and it was fun. This step of the process is important, make sure that everyone at your table does a good job washing, because you will use your hands to eat everything, including couscous.
First came the soup. You need to start with the National Moroccan Soup, there are 2 other choices, but the National Moroccan Soup is the best, hands down, the others aren’t nearly as tasty. Last night there were bits of lamb chopped up in the soup, but I’m told that this varies every night.
My favorite entree was the Rfissa(chicken) I didn’t want that to be my favorite, but out of everything it had the most flavor. The braised meatballs topped with eggs and the quail cooked with lentils were also very good. No one went back for seconds of the Felfla mechouia(grilled peppers with tomato and olive oil), it had a vinegar taste. I also didn’t like the cinnamon couscous, it was just a plate of couscous sprinkled with cinnamon and was boring. The red beet side was flavored just right and you can choose if you’d like it salty or sweet. The potato and cilantro cakes were also a good option.
I would recommend getting soup, a couple entrees and a couple sides, and splitting everything. We had so much fun passing around the different entrees, just make sure you like the people you choose to go with because YOU WILL be licking your fingers. Ask about the picture above the bar, it’s been hung in 4 restaurants around Charlottesville…last seen at??
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They also have 6 flavors for the Hookas.
It was pretty empty the night I checked it out too. It just seems out of the way to people. Horse and Buggy doesn’t even have a pick-up point at the IX anymore.